Slinging Stuff
The Book of Judges talks of slingers.
Seven hundred strong, all left- wingers.
The Bible tells us they were terribly feared.
They could split a hair on an enemy’s beard.
And besides the ability to split a hair,
The force of the stones, flying through the air,
Whatever it hit, didn’t have a prayer,
The equivalent of a.44 to bear.
How far, you ask, could these stones kill?
Almost 400 feet with moderate skill.
In the Roman army, the slingers drilled holes,
In their bullets with specific goals.
The sound, was found, when the stones would fly,
Shrill and buzzing, made the enemy’s throat dry.
More accurate than troops with bow and arrow,
The slingers were feared, to the enemy’s marrow.
We’re reminded of David, the young boy shepherd,
Also a slinger, killing wolf and leopard.
Goliath was slow and feeble of sight.
He never had a chance of winning this fight.
So the real story is not just David, the boy.
It’s about a slinger the Israelites managed to deploy.
Categories:
slingers, bible, history,
Form: Rhyme
the colour barrier
There is shooting every day in Chicago
many get killed by stray bullets shattered windows
but there are no headlines screaming
about these senseless crimes.
The gun-slingers are mostly black, and it appears
the police have given up patrolling a particular district
where the majority are dark.
we get headlines about murderous white men
and that is OK, as they fit the new narrative that
white is terrible; after all, they invaded America
and made it a powerful nation.
Categories:
slingers, angel, child abuse, confidence,
Form: Blank verse
We were wailing and sobbing
Everyone clutching
Okay maybe not everyone
But I was keening
Console me?
No way.
My aunt was dead
And I was dead too now.
She had taken me with her
Hook line and net
Grandma walked in
Everyone stopped keening
Except me.
She pulled me into her arms
And began to rock.
Her daughter was gone,
And she was not about to lose her granddaughter too
That will never work, the ones who slapped me
And threatened to whip me with belts and chains said.
That will never work, said the ones who had tried to
Scare me into silence.
But they were were the fools
The harsh ones, the gun-slingers.
The Scare-you-to-Death-ers.
Thinking they were the strong ones,
When they were actually the weakest
part of the family of all....
Categories:
slingers, death, emotions, feelings, grandchild,
Form: Free verse
Slinging boomerangs from a faraway crag.
Over ocean, mountain and the tundra of living.
Slicing chests of the wayward and vulnerable.
Seeding souls with fear of the greatest alone.
Circling back to grasp the palm of the slingers.
Wearing the red meat from the heart of dreamers.
Categories:
slingers, life,
Form: Free verse
America has always been noted for its Wild West and gun slingers.
Stage coach robberies and killing Indians was also in center of attention. Killing off entire herds of Bison and Buffalo was also alarming.
Bonny and Clyde, Valentine's Day Massacre and Patty Hurst were repulsive. Masochistic tendencies and being prejudiced and discriminating are bad.
Trump said that he is not prejudiced. There is my token black in the crowd. Senator Elizabeth Warren was called Pocahontas by Trump.
Finally, Walmart and Dick's and Fred Meyer are restricting and/or doing away with sales of assault weapons. The hand writing is on the wall regarding weapons sales. The Florida High School is sincerely fighting against weapons. Soon, assault rifles will be completely off of the market. Look at how many massacres it took to get where we are?
Jim Horn
Categories:
slingers, allegory, analogy,
Form: Limerick
Jamaica was always known for cultivating
the brightest and the best,
Academically, most scholars soared through
all their tests,
Our Island provided warmth and beauty,
Yet, the music of the modern generation
has tarnished our reputation,
Most, think of us as gun slingers, drug
dealers and vagabonds,
Our women are viewed as piranhas on
the run,
Through advertisements and word of mouth
Jamaican men are viewed as abusers or elusive
Baby Daddies or hustlers who cruise around in caddies,
They don't love us anymore,
The hate shows as they cleverly try to shove us through the doors,
concocting crimes and airs of suspicion,
Being a Jamaican has become a whirlwind
of negative labels such as aggression, crimanalism and drug running,
They never tell the real stories how the other half lives,
They don't love us anymore, so they would rather show
our lives hanging from the ballads or on the skids.
Categories:
slingers, confusion, introspection, people, political,
Form: Dramatic Monologue
Excessive with assumptions;
They quibble all amongst them.
And the cox’s have all but crowed for day;
But their hoping they may play.
And the chickens with their golden straws;
They’re digging with their claws
Scratching signs of peace on earth;
As they hide their shadows girth.
And the slingers learned to draw their guns;
But they’re often on the run;
But the seekers love to stay intense;
While hanging from the fence.
And I am but a ricochet;
Bouncing off the sounds;
Because of all the things I’ve ever heard;
They can sometimes be absurd;
Categories:
slingers, allegory
Form: Rhyme
The gambler is at the table,playin with a deck of cards,
The gun slingers drinkin sour whiskey,standin at the bar.
The mayor is goin up the steps with a lady leadin his way,
The hard workin farmer comes in to spend a little of his pay.
The drunk is in the corner,tryin to bum a drink,
The traveler is shavin upstairs in the dry sink.
The guns are worn on their sides as they stand in the street,
The sweat is puring from their hands in this noon day heat.
The bullets spit from the guns worn upon their hips,
The slower one will surely fall,put dirt upon his lips.
The normal day in a small western town with no law,
The last one dissapeared,somethin no one saw.
Categories:
slingers, adventure, cowboy-western, death, history,
Form: Rhyme
Gun slinger
Matt Zinger
Dressed in black
Didn't come back
High Noon
Was Doomed
Quick Draw
McGraw
Got A Rope
Hung that dope
Undertaker Called
Dead Body Hauled
Poured the whisky
From Junction 60
Dead Man's Trail
Where slingers failed
Categories:
slingers, adventure, cowboy-western, dedication, education,
Form: Couplet